ANDERSON — THK BIRDS OF IOWA. 1 63 



25. (126). Pc'/cra fius oa/dc/i/a/is (hinu.). Brown Pelican. 



The Brown Pelican was first recorded from Iowa by Thomas 

 Say (Long's P'xp., i, 266), as Pelccanus fiisciis, from Ivngineers' 

 Cantonment. The only recent record which I find is that by 

 Carl Fritz Henning (" A Southern Bird in Central Iowa," Annals 

 of Iowa, V, I, April, 1905, 62-3): " L,ast week a Brown Pelican 

 {Pclecanus fuscus) was captured by the Fri teller brothers on the 



Des Moines River, about nine miles northwest of Boone 



first seen swimming in a bayou." This bird was described in 

 detail, also its habitat, in the Boone Sfandard, July 14, 1900. 



Family FREGx\TlD.^. IMan-o'-war Birds. 



The Man-o'-war or Frigate Bird is an almost strictly maritime, 

 predaceous bird, with wonderful powers of flight. Only one 

 species occurs in America, and is not uncommon on southern 

 coasts. W. \V. Cooke (Bird Migr. in Miss. Val, 1884-5, 60) 

 reports two instances of its occurrence at a distance of eight hun- 

 dred miles from the nearest salt water ; one killed in Osborne 

 county, Kansas, Aug. 16, 1880; and one killed a few miles north 

 of Milwaukee, Wis., in August, 18S0. 



Genus Fregata Cuvier. 



26. (124). Frci^ata aqiiila {}Ji\\\\.). Man-o'-war Bird. 



The Man-o'-war Bird is only an accidental visitant in Iowa. 

 Morton E. Peck (Iowa Orn., ii, 2, 1896, 34) reports the occurrence 

 of a .specimen at LaPorte, Iowa (Blackhawk county), and Dr. 

 Paul Bartsch told me of a specimen taken near Burlington, Iowa, 

 by a gunner in the latter part of September, 1903, but as it was 

 not known whether obtained on the Iowa or Illinois side of the 

 Mississippi River, the latter may hardly be considered as an offi- 

 cial Iowa record. 



Order ANSERES. Eamellirostral Swimmers. 



Family ANATID^. Ducks, Geese, and Swans. 

 Subfamily MERGING. Mergansers. 



All of the three American species of this subfamily occur in 

 Iowa. The Mergansers, known also as the Saw-bills, or Fish 

 Ducks, are characterized by a narrow, nearly cylindrical bill, with 



